Welcome to IVF BenchMarking an initiative of FertAid.
CURRENT STATUS - DRAFT DEVELOPMENT STATUS ONLY
What does to seek to provide.
Benchmark allow you to analyse your clinical information in an anonymous manner as part of a TQM approach to IVF. The tools allow you to select from a comprehensive list of Key Performance Indicators (KPI) and add your data for both analysis and graphics. You can control which KPI parameters you wish to analyse.
The tools will indicate whether the variability in your monthly activity is within the normal scatter or may indicate cause for concern or joy. The graphic representation may be used for auditing and accreditation purposes and for reporting to clinic management and auditing bodies.
Benchmarking involves comparing your performance to other clinics information (all anonymous). IVF BenchMarking allow comparisons to clinics in your country or regions, all participating clinics and to a number of internal groups.
Internal comparisons are FREE but benchmarking is by a nominal annual subscription. This is to both fund these tools and to encourage participants to provide honest data submissions.
The Main BenchMark Menu
Home - This provides a summary of your activity
KPI - Allow you to select KPI and add them to your KPI List, to define your mean values and allocate action values
Add Data - Allow you to add each months data. Each entry requires confirmation.
Summary - Provides a summary of your Internal Reporting.
BenchMark - Provides for External BenchMarking (by subscription)
Chat - Provides a confidential chat room on general or specific KPI issues. This is for participants only.
Profile - Allow you to changes your profile logon values and to create or join selected KPI groups.
Information - Provides similar information to this page
LogOut- Resets all variables and closes your activity - You should always exit via LOGOUT.
Getting Started.
The first action is to Select KPI AND SET-UP KPI LIST - Select any number of KPI available and add these tools to your KPI list. You can add or remove these KPI at any time.
Under KPI....
As above, SET-UP KPI lists allow to you to dynamically add or remove KPI from the list of KPI values available to add data or report information.
Under KPI select each KPI and UPdate the values to represent the values you wish to benchmark each months data against. Annual data is available to use as a reference. You can also mark 10% & 20% variation and SD variation ranges and mark if these values are to be used for triggers for action events. The levels you set are entirely up to you and can be modified at anytime. They have no external value.
You can add data by selecting ADD DATA under the KPI heading. The unit for each data set is a monthly period and BenchMarking has provided the opportunity to add data from January 2006 onwards. You can add and remove data as you wish. This data is used for external benchmarking but only when part of a valid registration that includes payment of an annual subscription for that year. Again, the payment is both to provide protection against spurious data entry and provide protection within an anonymous benchmarking model.
Under Summary....
Under Summary, you can view your data on an annual or monthly basis with 6, 9 or 12 months data display. You can toggle between periods and the data will reset for the period under display. There remains considerable development in this area and the display represent a preliminary draft model subject to comments and suggestions from users.
The graphical representations are currently not available.
Under BenchMark....
External benchmarking is performed under this heading and remains under development at present. When available, you will be able to compare your monthly or annual performance to other clinics that have submitted their data for external review (by registration paying an annual subscription). You will be able to compare your performance against all other clinics, clinics in you own country or region, but more importantly against other clinics in your selected groups [see Profile].
TQM groups are able to be created dynamically online but are of little value unless others join the group. Each has an anonymous code and can be used to allow clinics to compare their performance against other clinics who have been invited to join the group.
Because BenchMarking has elected to develop an anonymous model where even the moderator does not know the identity of any participant, the data must be seen as a tool only and should and must not used for commercial or publication activities without the proviso that the data cannot be verified unless within a defined TQM group.
IVF has needed benchmarking tools for a long time and it is hoped that a user group when available may provide valuable insights into how the site may be of use in the future to improve.
BenchMark - Allows you to select a data set to benchmark
Register - Allows you to register and pay for annual comparisons
BenchMark Chat Room.....
The Chat room is a focused chat room. All entries are anonymous which has advantages and disavantages. Chats can be of general nature or linked to specfic KPI items. This has specifically been designed to provide an arena where scientists can ask questions about method and views that may assist them in improving their clinics performance.
Under Profile....
Under Profile, you can create a BenchMark group or join an existing benchmark group. If you create a group, as moderator, you will be provided with a 10 character KEY code. Give this to any other clinic you wish to be part of the group. Conversely, if you wish to join a group, you will need to get the Key from the moderator. BUT all is anonymous so you you need to know the moderator before you can proceed.
Select Summary and add each months data. Each time you add or edit a month's data, IVF BenchMarking recalculates your annual summary.You can alter the number of months to review and move the time frame to current or previous periods.
If you wish to BenchMark your performance, you will need to register and pay by credit card an annual fee to gain access to the benchmarking tools.
